The Strength of Jean-Luc Picard
The iconic ‘Star Trek’ captain is my hero — in any time period
Halfway through the trailer for the new Star Trek: Picard series, I slapped my laptop shut and dissolved into a puddle of hot, snotty tears.
This is my reaction to the gift of joy.
My gift, beamed in via YouTube link, was the return of one of the greatest leaders that Starfleet — hell, that the world or galaxy — has ever seen, Captain Jean-Luc Picard.
Overcome with emotion, I couldn’t watch the whole thing. At the trailer’s one-minute mark, the camera cuts to a brief image of the “Captain Picard Day” banner from the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, “The Pegasus.”
Large shaky letters, painted in primary colors by schoolchildren on the USS Enterprise-D, emerge ephemeral before being swallowed back by time. That’s as far as I got.
Along with being reduced to tears by joy, here’s another fun fact about me: I have watched all of ST:TNG so many times that I often brag about my ability to recognize episodes by the opening stardate.
Seeing the Picard day banner got to me because I adored Picard as a child. As an adult, I’ve found strength in the complexities of his character. Most of all, my tears came from the swell of hope for a…
